Hamburg SV continued their Bundesliga revival under new coach Thorsten Fink with a 2-0 win over Nuremberg.
Schalke went fourth in the table after second-half goals from Christian Fuchs and Raul completed their win over bottom-placed Augsburg, who replied through Sascha Molders.
The Royal Blues have 28 points from 15 games, three behind leaders Bayern Munich and two adrift of Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Huntelaar put them ahead in the 16th minute when he met Teemu Pukki's first-time ball into the area with a clever back-heel into the corner of the net.
The Dutchman, who has scored 24 goals in all competitions this season, joined Mario Gomez at the top of the Bundesliga scoring table with 13.
Promoted Augsburg, with only two wins so far, snatched an unlikely equaliser after Molders was left unmarked at the start of the second half.
Austria defender Fuchs restored Schalke's lead with a low drive from a wide angle in the 66th minute and former Real Madrid and Spain striker Raul completed the scoring six minutes from time.
Paolo Guerrero and Marcell Jansen scored in each half as Hamburg made it two wins and four draws in six games under Fink, who joined them from Swiss champions FC Basel.
The win lifted Hamburg to 11th place with 17 points from 15 games, a vast improvement on their early form when they took one point from their first six matches.
Guerrero, who hit the post early on, made no mistake in the 23rd minute, the Peruvian pouncing on indecision in the Nuremberg defence to chip the ball over Raphael Schaefer.
The goal was rough justice for Nuremberg, who had been on top, and their misfortune continued as Tomas Pekhart twice struck the woodwork.
Jansen sealed Hamburg's win just after the hour, firing into the corner after Ivo Ilicevic and Gokhan Tore combined to set up the chance on the edge of the area.
Bayern Munich head the standings on 31 points after a 4-1 win at home to Werder Bremen on Saturday.
